The increase to our store base included adding 11 owned and operated stores in France and 3 in Japan. In addition, Office Depot stores operated through licensees and joint ventures increased by adding 1 store in Hungary for a total of 4 stores, 6 stores in Israel for a total of 21 stores, 7 stores in Mexico for a total of 41 stores and 5 stores in Poland for a total of 16 stores, and closing 2 stores in Colombia leaving a total of 2 stores. As a result, at the end of the year, our International Division’s total store base totaled 118.

The office products industry outside of the United States is a very large, highly fragmented market made up of thousands of independent contract stationers, mail order operators and retailers. Customers range from individual consumers, home offices and small businesses to large global conglomerates. And while experts estimate the size of the North American office products market to exceed $200 billion, they speculate that the market outside of the United States is significantly larger.